seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 4:17 Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
OK... so here there are a couple of questions that come to mind. Where did Cain find a wife and where did he build the city?
Cain must have married someone in his family. It might have been a sister or a niece. Here's what the bible.org commentary has to say about it.
We have a well-known proof text used by skeptics. The verse reads: “Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.” Of course, the obvious question is: Where did Cain get his wife? The answer is quite simple: Cain married his sister (or possibly a niece). The Bible says Adam “had other sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:4). In fact, since Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5), he had plenty of time for plenty of children! Cain could have married one of his many sisters, or even a niece, if he married after his brothers or sisters had grown daughters. Regardless, one of his brothers would have married a sister. Marriages between close relatives were at first unavoidable if the whole human race came from a single pair. Marriage between siblings and close relatives was not prohibited until the Mosaic Law, instituted thousands of years later (Lev 18:6-18). There were no genetic imperfections at the beginning of the human race. God created genetically perfect Adam (Genesis 1:27). Genetic defects resulted from the fall and only occurred gradually, over long periods of time.
As for the city... the blueletterbible.org commentary seems to say that naming the city after his son, shows that sin was getting worse.
Here we see the beginning of industry and of urbanization - and that it is strongly man-centered (and called the name of the city after the name of his son), not God-centered. The fall of the human race continues to pick up speed.
This is from the easy English commentary.
It is not clear whether Cain built a city. It is possible that his son Enoch built it. The word for ‘city’ might in fact mean a very small place
I think Cain did build the city... after all the Bible I am using says "Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch".
The biblestudytools.com commentary ignored the marriage question all together but it did address the city question.
It has been in cities that the human race has ever made the greatest social progress; and several of Cain's descendants distinguished themselves by their inventive genius in the arts.
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